Must Reads: Barry talks system overhaul; Did Nike pay Verbruggen?

IOC official calls for Armstrong confession — The Washington Post

The vice president of the International Olympic Committee has called for Lance Armstrong to confess to doping and has confirmed that the IOC would await the UCI’s ruling on the Armstrong doping case before making a move on Armstrong’s 2000 time trial bronze medal.

“It would be in the interest of sport and in his own interest,” Bach said of an Armstrong confession in an interview with the Associated Press. “It would help cleaning up, and also it would help in drawing the right conclusions for the future to prevent something like this would ever happen again.”

LeMond claims Nike paid off Verbruggen — New York Daily News

The New York Daily News on Tuesday reported that Kathy LeMond, wife of former Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, has reaffirmed her testimony that Lance Armstrong backers Nike and Thom Weisel paid former UCI president Hein Verbruggen $500,000 after Armstrong tested positive for corticosteroids during the 1999 Tour de France. In her sworn testimony during the 2006 case between SCA Promotions and Armstrong, LeMond said that longtime Armstrong mechanic Julian Devries had told her and several other the story of the drug test cover-up.

“I’m sure Julian was telling the truth,” LeMond told the New York Daily News this week.

According to the paper, Kathy and Greg LeMond both testified in 2006 that Devries was initially upset with the growing presence of drugs in cycling, but eventually began transporting doping products for riders in his shoes. Devries denied the allegations during the 2006 proceedings.

“We have absolutely no idea what Mrs. Lemond, a long-time Lance-hater, was talking about when she gave her deposition,” said Fabiani, “and to this day we have no idea what she was talking about.”

Nike, which announced its support for Armstrong after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last week released its case file outlining evidence that the Texan doped throughout his record run of seven Tour de France wins, and Weisel, team owner of the U.S. Postal Service squad for which Armstrong rode and a board member of the USA Cycling Development Foundation, were not available for comment when contacted by the New York Daily News.

Barry calls for a full system makeover in cycling — The New York Times

Michael Barry, who confessed to his role in the U.S. Postal Service doping scandal last week, writes in The New York Times about the harsh reality he faced when he arrived to the sport’s elite level more than a decade ago and the positive changes he feels the sport needs to improve rider safety.

“The sport has become more humane in recent years, but the evolution must continue. Most of the images in my dreams have now become reality. There are many teams committed to racing clean that respect their riders and provide proper care. But more needs to be done if the sport is to shake its past,” Barry wrote. “Professional cycling needs to be completely restructured.”

Barry touches on topics as wide-ranging as the UCI points structure, the length of the road season, and doping.

“Those of us who doped and lied and those who were accomplices and witnesses remained silent for a long time in a misguided attempt to protect our jobs, our reputations, our teams’ sponsorships and the image of the sport,” writes Barry. “It was wrong. We followed a code of silence guarding an unhealthy culture. Riders, staff and officials must not fear speaking the truth. When they do, real reforms will follow.”